If you are a writer, no matter how famous, Likely Stories can be a course of study or a source of inspiration on creative writing; or simply a treasure trove of entertaining tales and words you've never heard of. Originally published as articles in the Writers' Forum magazine, these tales tell of the author's adventures when he meets his Guru, a fabulous and wise Being who appears in many guises and who guides his pupil in the sometimes bewildering ways of creative writing. Each story covers an aspect of creative writing such as If you are a writer, no matter how famous, Likely Stories can be a course of study or a source of inspiration on creative writing; or simply a treasure trove of entertaining tales and words you've never heard of. Originally published as articles in Writers' Forum magazine, these tales tell of the author's adventures when he meets his Guru, a fabulous and wise Being who appears in many guises and who guides his pupil in the sometimes bewildering ways of creative writing. Each story covers an aspect of creative writing such as character, dialogue, atmosphere, writers' block, vocabulary, etc. Tales...;...in Which my Guru Startles Me by Discussing Dialogue.; ...in Which An Eskimo Adds to my Knowledge of Character. ; ...in Which My Unconscious Mind makes Writing Easier and Better.;...in Which I Learn that Furniture alone doth not an Atmosphere make.;...in Which I Lose Financially but Gain advice about Prepositions. Whatever they are.

PrefacE; Tale One, in Which my Guru Startles Me by Discussing Dialogue; Tale Two, in Which my Guru Throws Himself onto the Tarmac to Talk Further about DIALOGUE; Tale Three, In Which a London BOBBY Teaches Meabout CHARACTER; Tale Four, in Which An Eskimo Adds to my Knowledge of Character; Tale Five, in Which I am Entranced by a Talk on Style; Tale Six, where SHOES Smoulder and Facts are Kicked Out of My Story; Tale Seven, in Which I Shrivel in The desert while LEARNING about the Short Story; Tale Eight, During Which I Get Something for Nothing and Advice on He Said and Body Language; Tale Nine, in Which a Not So Dumb Animal tells me about EDITING; Tale Ten, in Which my Guru Rekindles my Love of Vocabulary; Tale Eleven, in Which I Survive my Mother's Cake and Learn about Description; Tale Twelve, which Takes Place in Maxim's where the World almost Ends, and I learn about Mouth Shapes; Tale Thirteen, in Which I DIE and Listen to an Angel baffling me with MOUTH SHAPES Tale Fourteen, in Which My Unconscious Mind makes Writing Easier and Better; Tale Fifteen. How to Skin your DINNER and Give your Writing a KICK in the Pants; Tale Sixteen, in Which I Learn that Furniture alone doth not an atmosphere make; Tale Seventeen describes a flying sausage THIEF, and moreon creating Atmosphere; Tale Eighteen, in Which I am set Free from the Terror that is Writers' Block; Tale Nineteen, in Which I Discover the SHOCKING Truth about the Rules of Writing; Tale Twenty, Which may SCARE the UNDERWEAR off You, Yet Impart knowledge about the Supernatural story; Tale Twenty-One, in Which I Lose Financially but GAIN ADVICE about Prepositions. Whatever they are Tale Twenty-Two, Concerning the Theft of my Breakfast and a Ticking-Off because of my VERBS; Tale Twenty-Three, In which I Escape from DRACULA, but get entangled with Environment; Tale Twenty-Four, where I am blamed for being skinny, then kicked around for my mental inanition; Tale Twenty-Five advises Me to fling Caution to the wind 'nd Write a Bally Poem; Tale Twenty-Xis, in which My Guru suggests I work LESS and write more Tale Twenty-SeveN, in which I LeaRN TO STOP KIDDING Myself; Tale Twenty-Ate, in Which adjectives get the BooT except for jolly nice helpful Ones; Tale Twenty-Nine. How to Win with Vim, and TELL when to Use SHOW; Tale Thirty, in Which I Change JOBS and get a mouthful of Vocabulary.